(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday met with a group of Italian school children at risk of dropping out, part of a new initiative of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

Under “The Digger’s Light” program, the children visited the the Catacombs of St. Januarius in Naples and of St. Priscilla in Rome. On Saturday, a special train brought the children to Rome, where they met with Pope Francis, and were able to visit the Vatican and the Colosseum.

“We decided, together with the Ministry of Education, on schools that are far from the centre, far from the places of culture and beauty,” said Patrizia Martinez, the head of the “Courtyard of the Children,” which spearheaded the event. “The children are prepared by the teachers for the visit to the catacombs, but they remain enchanted by all that is beautiful and luminous beneath the earth.”During the meeting with the Pope in the Paul VI auditorium, several of the children presented Pope Francis with gifts from their excursion – earth and plants from the catacombs. Speaking familiarly with the children, the Holy Father spoke about the plant as a “plant of light to make a better world.” The earth, which came from the darkness of the catacombs, was given to the Pope “to make it become light.”

The Pope talked with the children about the importance of coming from the darkness into the light. “The light,” he said, “is always inside us. Because the light give us joy, gives us hope.” When people seek light, he continued, they can make the world a better place.

But, the Pope said, we can’t make the world better with hatred – only with love. “With love. With love. All together, like brothers, fighting alongside one another with love. And for that reason, I want to tell you one thing: When the Apostle John, who was such a good friend of Jesus, wanted to say who God is, do you know what he said? ‘God is love.’”

“God is love,” Pope Francis repeated, “And we go forward together toward the light to find the love of God. But is the love of God within us, even in moments of darkness? Is the love of God hidden there? Yes, always! The love of God never leaves us. It is always with us. Let us have faith in this love.”

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin MaryLectionary: 572

Reading 1ZEP 3:14-18A

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!Sing joyfully, O Israel!Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!The LORD has removed the judgment against you,he has turned away your enemies;The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,you have no further misfortune to fear.On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!The LORD, your God, is in your midst,a mighty savior;He will rejoice over you with gladness,and renew you in his love,He will sing joyfully because of you,as one sings at festivals.

Or ROM 12:9-16

Brothers and sisters:Let love be sincere;hate what is evil,hold on to what is good;love one another with mutual affection;anticipate one another in showing honor.Do not grow slack in zeal,be fervent in spirit,serve the Lord.Rejoice in hope,endure in affliction,persevere in prayer.Contribute to the needs of the holy ones,exercise hospitality.Bless those who persecute you,bless and do not curse them.Rejoice with those who rejoice,weep with those who weep.Have the same regard for one another;do not be haughty but associate with the lowly;do not be wise in your own estimation.

Responsorial Psalm IS 12:2-3, 4BCD, 5-6

R. (6) Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.God indeed is my savior;I am confident and unafraid.My strength and my courage is the LORD,and he has been my savior.With joy you will draw waterat the fountain of salvation.R. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;among the nations make known his deeds,proclaim how exalted is his name.R. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;let this be known throughout all the earth.Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel!R. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

Gospel LK 1:39-56

Mary set outand traveled to the hill country in hasteto a town of Judah,where she entered the house of Zechariahand greeted Elizabeth.When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,the infant leaped in her womb,and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,cried out in a loud voice and said,“Most blessed are you among women,and blessed is the fruit of your womb.And how does this happen to me,that the mother of my Lord should come to me?For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,the infant in my womb leaped for joy.Blessed are you who believedthat what was spoken to you by the Lordwould be fulfilled.”And Mary said:“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.From this day all generations will call me blessed:the Almighty has done great things for me,and holy is his Name.He has mercy on those who fear himin every generation.He has shown the strength of his arm,he has scattered the proud in their conceit.He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,and has lifted up the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich he has sent away empty.He has come to the help of his servant Israelfor he has remembered his promise of mercy,the promise he made to our fathers,to Abraham and his children for ever.”Mary remained with her about three monthsand then returned to her home.

But lawyers for 27-year-old Ms Ibrahim expressed scepticism that she would be freed so quickly.

“It’s a statement to silence the international media,” said Elshareef Ali Mohammed. “This is what the government does. We will not believe that she is being freed until she walks out of the prison."

BBC Report: Sudan death penalty reignites Islam apostasy debate UK leaders condemn death sentence. Sudan woman faces death for apostasy. Sudanese authorities are to free a woman who was sentenced to death for having abandoned the Islamic faith, a foreign ministry official says. Meriam Ibrahim, who gave birth to a daughter in custody, will be freed in a few days, the official told the BBC. Abdullahi Alzareg, an under-secretary at the foreign ministry, said Sudan guaranteed religious freedom and was committed to protecting the woman.(Meriam in Prison Holding New Baby Maya born while Shackled : Source: DailyMail.uk

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Condemnation: World leaders and celebrity figures piled pressure on Sudan

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2644796/Sudanese-woman-facing-barbaric-death-sentence-marrying-Christian-FREED-U-turn-authorities.html#ixzz33KDTJ9Kg Khartoum has been facing international condemnation over the death sentence. In an interview with The Times newspaper, British Prime Minister David Cameron described the ruling as "barbaric" and out of step with today's world. The UK Foreign Office this week said that it would push for Ms Ibrahim to be released on humanitarian grounds. Apostasy debate Ms Ibrahim, 27, was brought up as an Orthodox Christian, but a Sudanese judge ruled earlier this month that she should be regarded as Muslim because that had been her father's faith. She refused to renounce her Christianity and was sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy. On Wednesday, she gave birth to a daughter in her prison cell - the second child from her marriage in 2011 to Daniel Wani, a US citizen. The court said Ms Ibrahim would be allowed to nurse her baby for two years before the sentence was carried out. The court had earlier annulled her Christian marriage and sentenced her to 100 lashes for adultery because the union was not considered valid under Islamic law. Sudan has a majority Muslim population and Islamic law has been in force there since the 1980s. The ruling has revived a debate over apostasy, with liberal and conservative scholars giving different opinions over whether - and how - the act of abandoning the Islamic faith should be punished. Shared From BBC News

Returns from the 28-nation European Parliament elections. The winners in France, the anti-EU, far-right National Front party led by Marine Le Pen got one in four votes. UK Independence Party (UKIP) was the highest in the poll in European elections in Britain. Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party (UKIP) had 27.5% of the vote, the main opposition Labour Party 25%, the Conservatives 24%. Voters in Greece, handed first place and six seats to the anti-establishment Syriza. In Poland, politician Janusz Korwin-Mikke was elected to the parliament. In Spain, Podemos, a new movement won five seats. Germany Angela Merkel’s conservatives were the strongest force in Germany winning with 36% of the vote, but that was down from 42% in last year’s national election. The anti-euro Alternative for Germany party — won about 7% of the vote.

Read Cardinal Marx Statement on Election Results: Press Release of COMECE President Reinhard Cardinal Marx on the outcome of the European elections

A large majority of the citizens who participated in the European elections voted for pro-European candidates. In the years to come this will allow the European Parliament to continue its work for the common good of all Europeans with dedicated and competent women and men. Full Article

Lilongwe (Agenzia Fides)- Malawi has a new president. He is Peter Arthur Mutharika, 74 year old brother of Bingu wa Mutharika, President who died in 2012 while in office, succeeded by Joyce Banda who has led the country for the past two years.The electoral Commission announcement came just after midnight yesterday May 30, after the High Court had allowed a recounting of the ballots. However the Court recalled that the law requires results to be made public within eight days after the voting . Voting for the 20 May elections was extended in some polling stations until 22 May because of serious organisation difficulties (see Fides 22/5/2014), and therefore the results had to be announced by midnight yesterday. The new President won 36% of the votes. “This was a vote in which regional and clan divisions emerged clearly, as in the past the south is still the great elector of the presidents of Malawi” Fides was told by Monfort missionary father Piergiorgio Gamba, who has lived and worked in this country for decades. “ The north of Malawi gave 50% of its votes to Joyce Banda (who came third), the centre gave 50% of its votes to Lazaro Chakwera (who came second) whereas the south voted compactly for Peter Mutharika” the missionary explained. Serious irregularities in the voting and ensuing institutional clashes between outgoing president Banda and the Supreme Court, which had declared not valid the decision of the head of state to annul the vote and call new elections within 90 days, led to clashes in which at least three people were killed. “Black Friday in Mangochi- Fr. Gamba told Fides yesterday – with a series of demonstrations which police stopped with shooting, killing one demonstrator and filling the wards of Mangochi Hospital with the injured, some were inmates of Saint Monica's Hostel for Girls affected by tear gas”. “Situated just outside the Catholic cathedral, the Hostel is run by the Sisters of Divine Providence and has hundreds of girls” the missionary explained.“Let’s hope that now Peter Arthur Mutharika will keep promises made during the electoral campaign, like the prison reform and lower prices for cement and metal sheeting to enable to people to live in more permanent buildings and abandon hut homes, standard for the great majority of Malawians. A small step, but if achieved, of great importance” concluded Fr. Gamba. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 31/5/2014)

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Friday eveneing in St Peter’s Basilica, during which he consecrated Fr. Fabio Fabene a bishop. Bishop Fabene is the undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops. In his homily, which was closely based on the model homily for episcopal ordinations found in the Roman Ritual, the Holy Father spoke of the high calling of the office of bishop, and the great responsibility the office entails toward both God and the faithful.

“Episcopacy, in fact,” said Pope Francis, “is a service, and not an honour, since it is for the bishop to serve, rather than to dominate.”

Born in 1959, Bishop Fabene was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Viterbo in 1984, and was appointed undersecretary for the Synod on April 8th of this year.

2014

Visitation of the Blessed Virgin

Feast: May 31

Information:

Feast Day:

May 31

Assuming that the Annunciation and the Incarnation took place about the vernal equinox, Mary left Nazareth at the end of March and went over the mountains to Hebron, south of Jerusalem, to wait upon her cousin Elizabeth, because her presence and much more the presence of the Divine Child in her womb, according to the will of God, was to be the source of very great graces to the Blessed John, Christ's Forerunner.

The event is related in Luke 1:39-57. Feeling the presence of his Divine Saviour, John, upon the arrival of Mary, leaped in the womb of his mother; he was then cleansed from original sin and filled with the grace of God. Our Lady now for the first time exercised the office which belonged to the Mother of God made man, that He might by her mediation sanctify and glorify us. St. Joseph probably accompanied Mary, returned to Nazareth, and when, after three months, he came again to Hebron to take his wife home, the apparition of the angel, mentioned in Matthew 1:19-25, may have taken place to end the tormenting doubts of Joseph regarding Mary's maternity.

St. Mechtildis was born around 1125 in Bavaria. Here parents were Count Berthold of Andechs and Sophia. When Mechtildis was five, her parents placed her in the Monastery they had founded on their estate at Diessen, Bavaria. The Nuns brought her up, and Mechtildis grew up to be a devout and prayerful young lady. She grew in piety and eventually became a Benedictine Nun. She was elected Abbess at a young age after her Superior died. Although her parents founded the Monastery, she felt God chose her calling to become a Nun. Her holiness and reputation spread, and when she was twenty eight, the Bishop of Augsburg appointed her Abbess of Edelstetten and told her to reform the Convent. Despite her protests that she was not old enough for the task and could be unable to cope with the problems of the Convent, she accepted the appointment. She received instructions from Pope Anastasius IV about the reform that he desired. She received a warm welcome at first, but soon into her new position she was met with a great deal of resistance. When she began to enforce discipline, they were not cooperative with her. The measures that she took were that the Nuns start observing the Benedictine Rule, that the enclosure of the Convent be followed, especially the rule denying admission to visitors who came to spread gossip. She was only able to succeed after the Bishop expelled the main troublemakers. Soon she won over the other Sisters. In addition to her reputation for holiness, she had strong administration skills. She became well know for her miracles of healing, restoring speech and vision, and her mystical trances and ecstasies that would often last for hours. She was considered a model of Religious life. Shortly before her death in 1160,St. Mechtildis resigned as Abbess and returned to Diessen, where she died on May 31. Her life is an example that reminds us, whether we are Religious, Married or Single, we are all called to enter into the holiness and love of God, and to be of service to others.

NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR PENTECOST DAY 2ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY GHOST

On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. / I adore the brightness of Your purity the unerring keenness of Your justice and the might of Your love. You are the Strength / and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart! To be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light: and listen to Your voice and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You / by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds / and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart / I implore You / Adorable Spirit I Helper of my infirmity, so to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace O Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere / "Speak Lord for Your servant heareth." Amen.